KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has cleared the air over his dog-related injury which led to the postponement of a hearing involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.
Met at the court complex here, the prominent lawyer refused to put the blame on his pet, saying it was his own carelessness which led to the injury.
“I have two guard dogs in my house and it was the younger one which was being playful and jumped up on me, causing me to fall backwards.
“I got careless and became injured.. it was not caused by him (the dog). It was a young guard dog in training, which is only 10 months old, but bigger than the average adult dog,” he said.
Shafee said he kept several dogs to guard his office and house compound.
“I also have two Belgian Malinois in my office and they would rip your hand away if you come in uninvited. Very fierce guard dogs,” he said.
He said the pain in his hand was excruciating and this had hindered him from performing his duties and doing his “homework” the night before proceedings.
“I couldn’t sleep nor study my case notes as the swelling had worsened. The doctor thought it was broken, but the X-ray showed I merely suffered soft tissue damage. It swelled as a result. It gives me pain.
“When I arrived at the Court of Appeal for proceedings yesterday (Tuesday), my hand was swelling to the size of a tennis ball,” he said.
On Tuesday, Shafee had told the Apex court that he had fractured his hand and could not continue his submission pertaining to Najib’s appeal relating to criminal charges involving SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He suggested the hearing to continue on Friday.
This had irked Attorney-General Tommy Thomas who objected to any postponement, saying prosecution was under tremendous global pressure for the trial to start as soon as possible.
Judge Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, who was chairing the panel alongside Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Lau Bee Lan, then ruled the hearing postponed till Friday.
The hearing was scheduled so that the court could hear four appeals by the former prime minister in relation to the charges against him involving SRC International.